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Photo(s) no longer the focal point?

I was looking through the gallery the other day & got to thinking.... There are a lot of beautiful LOs out there with some pretty neat details. However, sometimes I feel like there are way too many things on them & the photo(s) is drowned out - the photo no longer appears to be the focal point, which I thought was the whole point of digiscrapping....

Does anyone else feel the same way or is it just me?

Is there a way of scrapping that calls more attention to your photos & less attention to the accessories (elements & such)? I'm not looking to totally eliminate the use of elements, but I don't want to look back years from now & say to myself "Why did you make such a cluttered page? The focus is more on the accessories & not the photo itself..."

Plus I'd like things to look more cohesive from page to page when I finally put together a book (be it of my wedding or my childhood). Anyone have any good tips for that?

I don't worry about whether I'll like my pages down the road. I know that my tastes will change and I probably won't like what I'm doing with my scrapbooking now. That's why digital is so nice. You can redo a page with the same picture as many times as you like. I like going back and looking at my earlier pages and seeing how much I've progressed and how my style(s) have changed. I'm kind of with you on the pictures not being the focal point. I'm not a fan of where theres a little cluster off to one side of the page with an even smaller picture in the middle of it. But I do like a lot of embellishments on the page.

I struggle with the balance too. I like making pages with lots of stuff on it, but it does minimize the photo. My general solution is that if I were to print out the pages, I would mix in photo only pages. Those are really boring to make though, even collage pages I find boring. So if I ever want to print something, then I'll have to quick make up some simple pages, but until then I'm happy just doing what I like.

That's a great idea Marisa! I have the same feeling over time, once I start looking back on pages a lot of them seem 'over-cluttered'. Or the minimalistic/clean layout raises the question; why is that photo so small - there is more than enough white space that you could have used to make it bigger, lol. There is one style that doesn't Seem to have this issue (for me) and that is the 'artsy' style (for lack of a better name). A big blended photo on the background with some smaller simply framed ones in front. These pages don't look good with a lot of embellishments. And the blending seems to draw all the focus to the photo. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about (which would be very conceivable ), here are some examples from my gallery:

I'm so glad you all understood what I was trying to say! I was afraid someone might take it the wrong way...

I've been playing in PSP & trying to make LOs here & there, but I've never printed any of them out or made a book yet. I was hoping someone (esp. someone that's made books) could give me some advice before I get too far & have to re-do everything I've made. I don't always put up all my LOs in the gallery - just ones here & there - so you might not see evidence of that. But I've started noticing lately that the more I've been scrapping the more "stuff" I've been putting on my LOs (maybe because that's the trend?), and I've been making LOs from a singular perspective rather than collective (like you would for a book or photo album). I've been viewing each LO as a separate, single project. I'm thinking I shouldn't do that - that I should make things more cohesive. Like maybe similar design & colors for a particular event (birthday, travel or what not). I hope I'm making sense. My mind is pulled in a lot of different directions right now...

I got the same thoughts when I entered the "Digital Scrapbooking"-World...there were so many layouts where the photo was not focused at all and I guess it is just a feeling but I do not like them so much. Sometimes my pages seem to be a bit boring but then again the focus is still on the pictures...I am also still learning a lot how to use awesome papers and elements to support the pictures. I print all of my layouts...that's the sense to me...remembering "old" times and looking at photos instead of just awesome flower elements . So I understand you very good.

I know it is hard but I tried to use one colour scheme for every album I make...my last album uses just black&white papers and elements to get more focus on the colourful photos. It is hard though because every scrapper loves colours. But in the end I am happy with it because it is a whole project and I love "unity".

Oh and Melouise...I LOVE this "artsy" style of yours...So need to practice these techniques!

I've been struggling with this also. I think I've come to a happy compromise. I'm basing my layouts on the photo(s) themselves. I used 3 pages to do my grandson's first year. I found a fantastic quick page for a photo of my younger son. The extra space was perfect for journaling. Though that was the first layout I added journaling to.

I don't worry too much about things matching. Like if I were to print my Europe book, it would consist of about 15 different kits. The main thing to me is that pages match that are facing each other. And if you don't have matching pages, you can always just stick in a big photo page.

I guess there's also a difference between if you're scrapping for fun, or for some sort of purpose. These probably overlap, but ultimately I don't have anything in mind when I making pages except that I like to make them, where as some people have set goals for printing/documenting/etc

That's a great idea, Marisa (about the photo page idea) - I'll have to remember that. I hope to make my 1st mini album sometime before the end of the year - it's just picking what to do first (wedding, honeymoon, travels, childhood, etc.) & then scanning all the photos from it so I can start. I want to start small & see how it goes.

I've been making LOs from a singular perspective rather than collective (like you would for a book or photo album). I've been viewing each LO as a separate, single project. I'm thinking I shouldn't do that - that I should make things more cohesive. Like maybe similar design & colors for a particular event (birthday, travel or what not). I hope I'm making sense. My mind is pulled in a lot of different directions right now...

I have also looked at those large clusters with the small picture as a waste. I have always thought the purpose of scrapping is the pictures and stories. To show the picture off and remember the moment or person.

I do agree with Marisa, as I also try to create matching facing pages or all a larger image to one side. It is a picture book or photo album that features your photos, your life, your story.

I do like Melouise's layouts they realy so the pictures and they themselves do not need much enhancement.

I just finished making a very minimalist, cohesive wedding album for my sister, but my own layouts never match up with each other. My books look kind of chaotic that way, but that's how our life is anyway, so it works.

I do find that I don't use a lot of embellishments. I chop paper up and make frame and strips and things, but don't put in piles of flowers and clusters and wordart and whatnot. It's hard for me to design sometimes because I don't use that stuff!

I totally agree... I love the clusters but not when the photo is the last thing I see and not the first... or a layout that is so "Full" of papers, and "stuff". For me the Photos are what is the first thing you should see with the rest making the finished product.

I think for me this is why I tend to do a little bit of the what I like to call eclectic scrapping. By that I mean... I do a fancy double page layout and then continue on with more "simple" scrapping type layouts, whether P365 style or just several photos and medium to minimal embellies. That way I get my creative on but I also get the story told with the photos and out of the shoes boxes and off the PC. Now sometimes if I'm imitating or scrap-lifting I may use more "stuff" on the page more often. but there is something to be said for getting them scrapped, too.

I am making a 'birth to marriage' book for my son and his wife and the photos I am using have been viewed so many times. I figured it was best to present them in a different way with elements, sometimes with a lot of elements and several papers. It is more interesting to look at the photos now. I can see making pages with more photos and less elements could be best for my present photos so people are more focused on the picture.
Like everyone else, I will go through phases, look back and think "WHAT IN THE WORLD!" Hopefully, there will be more days I'll look back and think, "THAT LOOKS PRETTY DARN GOOD!!"

I tend to go back and forth. There are times where I love to use a huge photo and others where I like to have lots of embellishments and papers. It really depends on the kit that I'm working with and the mood that I'm in (whether I'm in for the challenge of creating something complicated or not). That said, when I look at certain photos I know whether I want them to be a huge focal point or whether they 'need' to be supported by other things to 'sparkle'.

I think as long as your book tells the story (or generates the memories), then it's a success. I find sometimes all I need are photos on a page (like Christmas layouts - pics of the decorations or a billion photos of kids opening gifts, etc.), and maybe highlight one larger photo on that page or the opposite page (and maybe add the journaling).

For me, scrapbooking has always been about the photos. I like using templates, so I'll often take the photo layer and just drag a corner of it out so that it is larger and more a focal point on the page.